Out Of The Closet
by Koistin
Summary: Dave has a secret love.....
1. Default Chapter

1 Out of the Closet - Part 1  
  
Dave glanced around nervously as he talked quietly into his cell phone. There was no need to, as he was working the graveyard shift, and as far as he knew, he was the only one awake. Haleh, and Mark had claimed the two trauma rooms to snooze in, Weaver was up in the Psyche ward having a midnight snack, (or a 3am snack, as the case may be) with her friend, whose name Dave couldn't remember, and Carter was "napping" with Abby in Exam 1. *Yeah. Right. Whatever. Napping, my ass.* Dave thought. He was alone in Exam 4.  
  
"Ok, I'll see you in the morning. Do you want me to make breakfast when I get in? Oh right, Ok, as long as you have time to make it before work, I don't mind. Cook away!" Dave said cheerfully. "See you then. I love you too! Bye" Dave disconnected the call, and turned off his cell phone. He wasn't supposed to be using his phone in the hospital, anyway. Sgt. Weaver would have his head on a stick if she found out he'd been using it. Just as he was putting his phone in his trouser pocket, he remembered that he'd forgotten to mention where he'd put the frying pan the day before. He'd moved it into another cupboard, because sometimes it was hard to shut the cupboard door because of its large handle. *Oh well,* he thought. *I'll just rest my eyes for a minute, before I phone home again...*  
  
***  
  
"Dave! Wake up! It's 6:30!" Abby called, as she stuck her head through the door of Exam 4. "Dave!" she tried again. "DAVE! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!" Weaver yelled from behind Abby.  
  
"What? What?" Dave mumbled, jumping off the bed, and rubbing his eyes. "I'm awake Chief, I swear. So what happening?" He added, stumbling through the doorway.  
  
"Phone call, line 1" Weaver said. "And don't call me Chief." She ordered, whacking him with her crutch. " I prefer Goddess".  
  
***  
  
I must have been evil in a past life,* thought Abby, as she cleaned in Exam 3. *Or Weaver,* she giggled to herself. She swept her damp cloth over the telephone hanging on the wall, accidentally knocking the receiver slightly off the hook. Without noticing, she went on cleaning, scrubbing at a stubborn mark next to the 'SPEAKER PHONE' button. When she pressed too hard on the side of the button, the system activated, and the voice if Dave, and that of his friend filled the room. Abby was just reaching for the phone to disconnect, when Dave's friend spoke.  
  
"You haven't told any of you friends about us, have you? 'Cause if you had, you wouldn't be whispering." They asked.  
  
"No, I haven't, but I'm not ready to. I want to keep you all to myself," Dave answered.  
  
"Save me the crap. You're ashamed of me, admit it. In fact, don't talk to me right now. And make your own breakfast!" Dave's partner hung up.  
  
Dave slowly hung up the receiver and walked out of the closet, where he'd taken the call in privacy. He'd started off by saying where the frying pan was, and ended up having a fight with the person he loved. All in one short phone call.  
  
In Exam 3, Abby disconnected the call, and sat on a gurney. She recognised the voice on the other end of the line. It was that of Dave's roommate, PAUL. But it couldn't be, could it? Dr. David 'Call Me Dave' Malucci wasn't gay, was he?.......... 


	2. Chapter 2

1  
  
2 Out of the Closet - Part 2  
  
Abby Lochart walked through the halls of the ER, looking for Dave Malucci. She really needed to talk to him about what she'd overheard - ok, eavesdropped on - him talking about on the phone. She had been wandering about, looking for him about half an hour. Eventually, see saw a pair of dark blue scrubs head into the men's toilets. She ran at the door, stopping it before it shut.  
  
"Dave," she called. "I really need to talk to you. It's important."  
  
"Eh, I'm a little busy just now," Dave called back. "Can it wait?"  
  
"I overheard your phone conversation."  
  
Dave's face appeared at the door. "Come on in," he said, opening the door.  
  
Abby sat on a washbasin, and Dave perched on a pipe.  
  
"What, exactly, did you hear?"  
  
"Well," Abby started. "I heard you tell Paul that you weren't ready for anyone about your relationship."  
  
"Uh-huh" Dave said, not showing any emotions except annoyance on his face. "Go on".  
  
"I just wanted to know," Abby said slowly, "Even though it's none of my business, but.... are you gay?"  
  
"Would it change your opinion towards me, or the way you viewed me as a doctor, if I was?" Dave asked evenly. "Would you run off and tell Chuni, and Haleh, so they can gossip about me the way they gossiped about you and Carter?" he continued, his voice rising. "Or are you trying to satisfy your own curiosity? You stumbled onto something you weren't supposed to know about, and now you can't wait for the next chapter in the exciting new drama, the 'Is Dave Gay?' TV series? Or do you want to use it against me, make me cover for you, every tmie you and Carter disappear on to the roof together, or you will tell everyone?" Dave shouted.  
  
"I'm sorry," Abby said quietly, standing up. "I'm sorry I even asked. All I wanted to do was help you. You just had a big fight with your roommate, or boyfriend, or whoever he is, and you couldn't turn to anyone for support, because no -one knew. Well, I'm sorry for caring!" Abby shouted back, throwing open the door, and slamming it behind her as she left. Dave kicked the wall in frustration, regretting it a minute later when his toes swelled to twice their normal size.  
  
  
  
Carter was walking past the men's toilet on his way to the admit desk to see if they had any patients yet, when he saw Abby storm out, slamming the door behind her.  
  
"Damn!" Malucci's voice swore from the depths of the toilets.  
  
"Why were you in the men's toilets with Dave Malucci?" Carter asked, a suspicious look on his face.  
  
"I was arguing with him." Abby snapped.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"I can't tell you. It's not my place to tell." Abby may be pissed off at Malucci, but it was no reason to go gossiping about him. He was obviously deeply concerned about the ER staff's reaction, if they ever found out that he was gay. Abby respected his wishes about keeping it quiet.  
  
"What do you mean, you can't tell me? We are engaged. We have a baby daughter. You can't tell me something Dave Malucci said to you that upset you? If he's upset you so much, that you can't tell me about it, I will personally beat the crap out of him!" Carter said loudly.  
  
"Shh! Keep your voice down. Weaver's looking at us" Dr. Weaver had returned from the Psyche dept, and was now glowering at them from the admit desk. "Actually, it's something I said to him, that upset him, that's upsetting me," Abby said. "But, I can't tell you about it, so don't ask." With that, she turned around, and headed for the lounge to get her coat. The first drabs of staff for the next shift were starting to arrive, and it was so dead, that nobody would notice if she left 15 minutes early. She was so glad that Carter was working a double shift, and she wouldn't have to talk to him for a while.  
  
"Fine!" Carter shouted after her. "When you feel like you can disclose the top secret contents of your conversations with Dr. Dave, then let me know. You know where you can contact me. I'm the person who sleeps on the other half of your bed!" Carter turned on his hell, and was heading in the opposite direction from Abby, when Dave came hobbling out of the toilets.  
  
Carter run at him, and hit him square in the jaw with a left hook.  
  
"What the hell?" Dave shouted, as he picked himself up off the floor.  
  
"What did you and Abby talk about in the toilets, that is so top secret, she won't even tell her fiancé? She can't or she won't?"  
  
"It's not what you think, Carter. Abby loves you."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well what is it about you, that she finds she can't share with me?"  
  
"Carter, I'm not trying to steal your girl. I swear."  
  
"Then what is so important between you two?" By now, both men were shouting, and circling each other.  
  
"SHE FOUND OUT I'M GAY!" Dave yelled, just in time for the changeover of shifts. Weaver, Haleh, Chuni, Mark, Cleo, Elizabeth, Peter, and Romano, Malik, and many other nurses all turned to stare.  
  
"Oops" said Carter. 


	3. Chapter 3

Out of the Closet - Part 3  
  
Carter was mortified. He stood, rooted to the spot, frantically thinking of something to say. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Weaver eventually spoke. "Carter, Malucci, Exam 2." She stared coldly at them. "Now!"  
  
Silently, the two trooped into the Exam room. Outside the door, they could hear Kerry dishing out orders to those which had just arrived, and sent everyone else home.  
  
"Right, you two." She said as she stormed trough the doorway. "Sit," she said, pointing to a gurney. The male doctors sat down, and kept their heads and gazes towards the floor. "In all my years as a doctor, I have never seen, or heard, anything like that! Now, which one of you would care to explain it first? Dave? How about you?"  
  
"Um... well... It all started when Abby overheard my phone conversation, and worked out that the person I was now living with was male. She and I had an argument about it, and she was very upset. Abby being upset made Carter upset, and my jaw black and blue." He grinned impishly.  
  
"And what do you have to say for yourself, Carter?" Kerry regarded him with a stern look, not unlike that of his high school principal, whose office he was in, almost on a weekly basis.  
  
"Well... I was only looking out for Abby. I thought Dave might have hurt her, or something," He said meekly, believing himself even less that Weaver did.  
  
"And you find this kind of behavior acceptable, do you, Carter?"  
  
"No ma'am" he replied, his eyes on the floor.  
  
"And what about you, Dave. What was all that nonsense you were shouting, about being gay?"  
  
"It wasn't nonsense. I am gay; I just hadn't planned on telling everyone yet. But now that it's been said, I can't really take it back. But I don't really want to take it back. In a way, I'm glad that it's out in the open, cus now I won't have to hide from my friends, or lie to them."  
  
Weaver, slightly taken aback by Dave's honesty, hadn't a clue what to say to that. Instead, she said, "I think you two are finished for tonight. Go home and rest, because I want you refreshed for your next shift. Now shoo!"  
  
The two very different doctors got off the gurney, and shook hands. They headed away for their separate homes, with very similar thoughts in their minds.  
  
"I wonder how I'm going to fix things with Abby?"  
  
"I wonder how I'm going to fix things with Paul?"  
  
*** The End *** 


End file.
